Cammi Granato
Granato was the captain of the U.S. women's hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. She is the younger sister of former NHL player and former Colorado Avalanche head coach Tony Granato, and a graduate of Providence College. Granato played hockey for the Concordia Stingers of Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, until CIAU added more restrictive rules on non-Canadians. In June 1997, New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury extended an invitation to Granato to attend Islanders training camp. Granato eventually declined. Early life As a child, she played for the Downers Grove Huskies, her hockey club from kindergarten until her junior year in high school. Cammi also batted cleanup on a boys' baseball team, played soccer and basketball through high school on girls' teams and twice was a member of medal-winning Olympic Festival girls' team handball squads. USA Hockey Granato has played in every world championship for the U.S. She is also a rinkside reporter for NBC's NHL coverage and a color commentator for NBC's coverage of women's ice hockey at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She was named USA Women's Player of the Year in 1996. On February 8, 1998, Cammi Granato had hit the Aqua Wing ice and scored the first ever Olympic goal for the U.S women's hockey team.Granato makes history again, Steve Rosenbloom, Chicago Tribune, February 9, 1998, Page 5, Sports section She was dropped from the US National team unexpectedly before the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, after being a part of the program since its inaugural season. Granato provided support for special needs children by starting Golden Dreams for Children Foundation. She also runs an annual hockey camp during the summer in Chicago for young girls. Accolades *1996 USA Hockey Women 's Player of the Year Award (also known as the Bob Allen Women's Player of the Year award) *In May 2008, Granato was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Hall of fame with two other women's hockey players (Geraldine Heaney, Angela James) - the first women to be given such an honor. On September 18, 2007, Granato was announced one of the four recipients of the 2007 Lester Patrick Trophy. She is a partner in BelaHockey, a company that creates hockey accessories for girls. *On August 12, 2008, it was announced that Granato would be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of fame, the first woman to be in the Hall. The induction ceremony took place on October 10, 2008, at the University of Denver. *On June 22, 2010 Granato was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato and Angela James will be the first female inductees. Personal Granato lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with her husband, former NHL star Ray Ferraro. They have two sons: Riley, born in December 2006, and Reese, born in December 2009. She is stepmother to Ferraro's sons from his first marriage, Matt and Landon. She is a partner in BelaHockey, a company that creates hockey accessories for girls. References Category:American ice hockey players Category:1998 Olympian Category:2002 Olympian Category:Providence Friars women's ice hockey players Category:Female ice hockey players Category:Concordia Stingers women's ice hockey players